The Key to live
by Rifu-ko
Summary: All of a sudden, he found out that he was a father. Levi had thought himself as a fighter, or perhaps a killer, but never a father. (Levi X OC)
1. When we first met

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin nor the cover picture.**

* * *

Life is always full of surprises. Good or bad.

Twenty-four hours ago, no man could have predicted the fall of Wall Maria, no one would even conceive the possibility of such tragedy.

But it happened.

Life is also full of decision. Big or small. Every decision leads to a destiny, which that person himself could never imagine at the very moment the decision was made.

And now was that moment for Audrey Cooper.

In all her life, most of the things she had to decide were trivial and insignificant. Something involved with what to cook for dinner, or which dress to wear to her cousins' wedding. The biggest decision she had made was to marry her husband David, but she never gave a second thought and accepted his proposal. Well, it wasn't hard at all when you truly love someone.

But now, she had to make the most difficult decision she had ever encountered.

Audrey found a blonde woman lying on the ground when she was on her way escaping to Wall Rose, the woman wasn't even able to sit up, it seemed that she had hurt her vertebra. Beside her, there was a baby.

"Please, bring Victoria and go!"

Audrey had to decide, whether she should take the injured woman and her baby with her, or just escaped with the little baby. The woman pleaded for the latter, but Audrey couldn't leave her behind. The decision involved a person's life, she never dared to think of giving up a life when the possibility of survival was there. Even it was small.

"I can't just leave yo…"

"GO!"

People were screaming, smoke filled the air. The titans must have been getting closer and closer, so were death.

But Audrey couldn't care, she kneels down beside the woman, both hands put under her arms and started pulling. The woman was heavier than her, she might be able to pull her horizontally on the ground, but carrying her onto the horse seemed to be a mission impossible. After a few attempt, both of them fell straight onto the ground.

"Don't you see? I can't even sit on a horse, if you bring me with you three of us are going to die!"

The women finished her words without even taking a breath, tears were rolling in her eyes. Audrey stood up and walked around, frown deepen as her mind racing for an alternative solution.

The sun sank deeper and deeper into the back of the wall, sunlight fading second by second, so was the possibility of survival.

"No, no...Don't give up...maybe we, maybe we coul…"

"Ma'am! Plea…"

Heavy footstep covered her voice, a large naked man jumped into their sight.

There came the envoy of death.

Audrey's eyes ran from the titan to the woman, and back to the titan again... she couldn't decide, she couldn't give up, she...

"Please, go! "

As the woman screamed her lungs out, Audrey's sight finally landed on the baby. When the tremble of the ground was too big for her to hesitate, she knew she had to decide. Biting her lips, Audrey kneels down and carried the baby. she took a deep breath, turned around and jumped onto the horse.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you…"

The woman's voice was shaking, but she never stopped thanking.

"Who is her father?"

After moving a few foot ahead, Audrey stopped her horse and turned her head back to the woman. The woman was smiling, a smile mixed with relief and sadness.

"Levi."

That was the last word she spoke.

* * *

**A/N: **Hey there! This is Rifu. I eagerly wanted to write about Levi as a father, so here it is! I knew there were a few stories out there with the same theme but I just can't help myself. Imagining the stone face titan slashing Levi Ackerman becoming a father just make me excited. I wish that you guys enjoy the story too :)  
English isn't my first language and I wish I could portrait the character well, so suggestion and correction are welcome :D


	2. Before the fall I

**Before the fall**

* * *

Time: One month before the fall of Wall Maria.

* * *

Audrey bit her lower lips while sitting in front of a round table beside the wide window, she had never felt this uncomfortable for a very long time. Firstly, she had arranged a meet up with one of her friends, and after drying up three pots of red tea, the chair opposite her was still empty. And secondly...

"Awww! I wonder if I would meet Victoria tomorrow!"

The woman next table suddenly exclaimed with high spirit, her voice echoed through every corner of the restaurant. She spoke as if she did not notice they weren't the only guest.

"Victoria?" A man asked.

"Yeah! She has really beautiful blue eyes, you know... "

"Oh...I didn't know you like girls, Hanji. "

"Shitty four eyes is talking about titan."

Audrey could feel her scalp tingling as she overheard their conversation. Her gaze shifted from the teapot to the street outside of the window from time to time, making sure that their eyes would not meet. She had never had a close encounter with the Recon Corps, but neither had she heard any good things about these people. 'The theft of tax'...'Suicidal Army'... 'The titan's snacks'...Recon Corps sure earned themselves a lot of names. But they had never crept her like how they did at the moment. She wanted to leave the restaurant so badly, but she had just ordered another snack before these weirdo came in. She's pretty sure that her food was on its way since the Recon Corp and Audrey was the only guest, it would be rude to make cancellation right now.

Luckily, her food came fast. She stuffed the nuggets inside her mouth as fast as she could, inwardly blaming herself for ordering hot snacks instead of salad. After she finished her food, Audrey did not ask for the bill like she usually did, she walked directly to the counter to pay her meal, all she wanted right now was to leave as soon as...

Wait, where's my wallet?

She dug deep inside her handbag, pulling out a few things that you could not use to pay your bill, and the bag was empty. Oh god, she must have left her wallet at home. She gave the owner a sorry smile and explained that she would go back to get her wallet. The owner did not seem to buy her explanation. His face turned black as he leaned towards her with a finger pointing at her nose.

"You people really think that I'm gonna fall for the same old trick again?! Ain't gonna happen!"

The sudden hit on the counter startled her, Audrey held her hand close to her chest as she voiced out her confusion.

"W-what do you mea..."

"Stop pretending! I'm enough of this shit." He walked out of the counter with frustration painted all over his face. "Acting rich but forgotten your wallet, Miss? Too bad, one of your dudes had played the same show a few days ago, he said his gonna come back with his money, and that asshole never return! "

Understanding hit her immediately. That was the cheating method which went popular in Shiganshina District lately, scammers wandering around with expensive attire, telling people that they'd lost their wallet. They would tell you they need a huge amount of money for some urgent issues, with a promise that they would return double of whatever they had borrowed. The amount cheated was usually a few thousands or more, she never knew that people would do that just for a meal. While her mind was racing for a solution, the owner dropped his sight on her hand.

"You can use that ring as a mortgage, when you come back with your money I'll return you your ring."

She had never expected the owner to come out with such an offer. Holding her hands closer to her, she looked into his eyes boldly.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't."

There was no way she was going to leave her wedding ring with him. Audrey did not know the owner well enough to trust him with that suggestion. There were no other people out there to testify their agreement other than his waiter (no no, not the Recon Corps), what if he said he never took her ring? She was not planning to risk the possibility of losing something so important to her.

"Then you'll have to clean up everything before you can leave!"

The owner grabbed her wrist and started to pull her, she tried to break herself free but his strength was greater. She suggested the owner to send someone with her to get the money but was again rejected. Anger rose accompanied by fear, she wasn't sure if the owner would do anything inappropriate to her. It seemed that he only cared about money, but scammers never hang a name tag on their chest telling you that they are scammers, so who knows.

Before she could do anything, a fist went passed her eyes and somehow landed on the owner's face. Her heart skipped a beat and her sight quickly ran to the owner, but instead of a bloody nose, she only saw a few pieces of cash stuffing inside his mouth, there was no sign of injury. The owner seemed too shock to give an instant reply, he rooted on the spot with his eyes blinking, he wasn't even aware when she parted her hand from his.

Audrey turned around and a young man came into sight. He wasn't tall, somewhere around her height, or maybe an inch taller. His face was small, with middle parted straight black hair covering his head. He should be the youngest among his colleague, probably just passed his sweet sixteen, but he showed an expression that did not match his age, a combination of dispassionate, disgust and disdain. He did not pay her a glimpse, both eyes were locked on the chubby man in front of him.

"What..."

He spat out the money and pushed her aside, closing the gap between him and the young Recon Corp until their noses were half an inch away from each other.

"...the hell do you think you are doing?!"

"Payment for table 13 and 14." The young soldier was smaller in size, but he looked directly into the owner's eyes without a hint of fear.

He is...helping me?

Audrey blinked, feeling a little caught off. He was from Recon Corps, a military branch which had the worst reputation, and he was now helping a citizen, a woman who he had never met before, at least not until fifteen minutes ago. That didn't make sense at all, what he had done showed no resemblance of what she had heard about the Scouting Legion.

Both men remained the same position for another moment until the young soldier deepens his frown. "Move your pig face away, your breath smells like titan's ass."

The owner's face turned from red to purple, Audrey took a few steps backwards to stay away from the potential fighting area. But before any party could start a fight, a tall blonde man stepped in between them. He tapped the younger soldier by his shoulder, they looked at each other for a few seconds before the shorter guy sighed and looked away. Knowing that he had given up the idea of starting a fight, the blonde turned to the owner and gave him a bow.

"I apologize regarding the misbehavior of my subordinate."

The blonde towered over the short chubby owner, the owner narrowed his eyes, height differences made him hesitate to move. After a few seconds, he waved and turned away.

"Whatever...just get your ass out of my place."

The short teen spared him a last stern glance before heading to the door. As the Recon Corps left, Audrey quickly grabbed her handbag and followed them. When she reached the door, the soldiers was already on their way leaving.

"Sir! Wait!" She hurried herself to them.

"Thank you so much for helping me." Audrey gave the black haired teen a deep bow. "How can I return you the money?"

"You don't need to."

His face was expressionless, sparing her no clue of his emotion. He still looked a little unfriendly, but regardless of who he was, he had helped her, and she wanted to pay him back. Her eyes moved from side to side as she thought of a solution. When her sight landed on her own handbag, an idea suddenly popped up, she opened the bag and dug her hand into the bottom, pulling out a tin of dried tea leaf and a bottle of wine.

"Do you drink tea? Red tea."

She passed the tin box to him, this was supposed to be a present for her friend, since she did not show up, Audrey could just give it to him as a replacement for the money.

"I would like to give you the beer as well, but I guess it is against the law."

The young soldier looked at her with confusion, she smiled at him as she added.

"Underage shouldn't drink."

Right after she finished her words, his colleagues burst into laughter, his face seemed to darken without moving a brow. A sudden panic hits her. Gosh, he must be older than what she had assumed. Despite how his face went black, the woman with messy ponytail walked closer to them without trying to hide her laughter.

"How old do you think he is?"

Audrey could feel sweat sliding from the edge of her forehead, she wasn't sure what number to say. He could drink alcohol, which means that he must be at least 18, he couldn't be more than that, but what if he was older?

"Erm...19?"

It came another round of laughter, the ponytailed woman was the loudest.

"Well, still not too bad, what did the man we met the other day said...14? 15?"

"Shut up, four eyes."

He spared the women an annoyed glance before turning back to Audrey, he grabbed the tin roughly without a word.

"So you like tea?"

She couldn't tell from the limited expression he showed, but she did wish that she'd gave him something he liked, rather than something he would just put aside and dump after it's expiry date.

"Hn."

Her face lit up immediately, she was glad.

The evening sunlight powdered their face with a layer of golden honey, just like everyone else who'd walked passed them. Maybe, just maybe, the wing solder weren't that bad, or at least the one who stood in front of her seemed like a good man. She might have been a little bias to them previously.

Before they parted, she stretched out her hand to him.

"I am Audrey, Audrey Cooper. And you?"

He stared at the hand she offered for a moment before reaching for it.

"Levi."

"Levi?"

"Just Levi."

* * *

**A/N: **

**Hellooo Guys, I am sorry for the long update. I'd been busy right after I posted the first chapter. I had started this chapter two months ago, but it was only finished today. Throughout these few months, more info on Levi's past had been revealed, and I am glad cause it would help a lot for the future chapters. **  
**This is the first chapter with Levi in it, although I thought Levi could be a little gruffer, but overall I was quite satisfied with how I wrote him, not OOC I hoped? How do you guys think? Any thoughts about the story so far? I would be happy if you guys could leave a review to let me know how you think****.**


	3. Before the fall II

**Before the fall II**

* * *

"Hey kid, would you mind grabbing the sack for me?"

Levi glared at the tall brunette man in front of him, muscle tensed by the way he informed him. It wasn't the first time he was mistaken as a kid, and he doubted it would be the last. The man was carrying some boxes and sacks, one of the sacks dropped and his hand was too occupied to grab. It seemed like he was shopping around.

"Grow another hand if you wanted to buy so much."

His voice was stern, but still, he picked up the sack and stuffed it to the man. In another day, he might just snap and walked away, but he was in a particularly good mood today (he bought brooms and detergents in a fair price), so he decided that he could spare this man a little mercy.

The man was startled by his word, before he could form any respond, a new voice caught their attention.

"Levi!"

Both men turned their head to face an approaching lady. She was a tiny woman, her wooden brown hair tied into a bun behind her head, with thick bangs covering her entire forehead. The large blue eyes under the bangs were filled with surprise and joy when she saw him.

"It is nice meeting you again!"

Her voice was gentle yet cheerful, immediately lighting up the atmosphere.

"Audrey."

Levi greeted her expressionlessly. He hadn't seen her since the day they met in the restaurant. The Recon Corp had been busy planning and training for the next trip outside the wall, this is the first time he walked out of the training ground for the entire week.

"This is my husband, David." Audrey moved her sight to meet the tall man standing next to her. "David, this Levi, the nice guy I told you about the other day, the one that got me out of trouble in the restaurant."

David's mouth formed an 'o' shape at his wife's statement. Levi inwardly frowned, 'nice guy' would be the least suitable words to describe him, for he knew too well what he had done in the past. Outwardly, he remained deadpan.

"So it's you! I'm glad to meet you!"

David Cooper smiled widely as he passed some of the lighter sacks to his wife and extend his hand to the shorter man, Levi did not miss the brief unreadable expression he showed before he smiled. He stared as his outstretch arm for a long time but did not take it. Both men remained at the same position for a while and it became a little awkward, the noises of the passerby filled the air but it seemed completely silent at the same time. Before Audrey could figure out something to break this awkwardness, her husband took back his hand.

"I wanted to thank you on behalf of my wife for the other day, Audrey would be in trouble if you did not help."

His smile remained, speaking casually as if nothing had happened.

David wanted to repay him the money, but Levi rejected, saying that he already had the red tea. Audrey's expression lit up as he mentioned the tea.

"Did you like the tea?"

Levi turned his gaze from the man back to the woman, meeting her warm blue orbs. The tea she gave was something expensive, he would use up a month of salary if he were to get something like that himself. But from the attire they wore, he could tell that the small gift means nothing to them. They're the one that was born under the sun, blessed with tremendous wealth, and lived with dignity. They had everything he used to long for, everything that could separate him from the filthy underground. Deep inside him, he had dreamed of starting a new life with Isabel and Farlan after they came back from the outside world. A life that the Coopers were living.

But they never came back.

Since then, time had passed and things had changed, his goal was different from the one he used to hold...but still, his favor over luxurious little things never changed. It was something rooted deep inside him.

"It wasn't bad."

'wasn't bad' was definitely an understatement, but Levi and cheesy words never came together.

"I'm glad."

Audrey's smile widen, her smile was warm and genuine, unlike her husband's. Levi eyed the taller man, as bright as he smiled, Levi could smell the reservation behind the face.

David peered up to the setting sun and looked to his wife.

"Dear, it's late, I think we should be going."

"Oh my, we really should."

Before they turned around and headed to another direction, Audrey waved at him with a bright smile.

"See you, happy weekend!"

Levi waved briefly. He saw Audrey greeted another woman passing by before the couple disappeared around the corner. Audrey seemed to be a people person, she always had this air of friendliness surrounding her, they had barely met but she greeted him as if they were friends. He wasn't used to meeting with people that showed him such enthusiasm on their first few meeting, most people either fight him or avoid him. Perhaps there were exceptions once in a while (e.g: Hanji Zoe).

The sun sank deeper behind the wall of Shiganshina, Levi turned and continued his route. He still had mops to buy.

* * *

"He seemed to be pretty…unique."

It was a few hours after they reached home from the market, Audrey was feeding the baby while David packed the suitcase for his business trip to Wall Rose, and he brought up the topic. His wife moved her gaze from her baby to him.

"Well, yeah...he does has character... but I think he is a nice guy."

Audrey smiled lightly, carrying the warmth she always had with her. His hand stopped packing as he contemplated what to say.

"People don't get the word 'bad guy' tattooed on their forehead, do they?"He let out a small laugh and sat beside her. " Just...be careful, I don't feel right about that guy."

Shiganshina was perhaps one of the safest cities around the area, but still, fraud case had become pretty common these days. A soft-hearted woman like his wife would easily fell for that. She wasn't stupid, but she trusted others too easily, showed her a little kindness and she'll trust you entirely.

"Alright, alright, I'll be careful."

"If he wanted to borrow money, don't lend him, just tell him that all the money is with me...ask him to meet me directly."

"Well, alright."

Audrey didn't think that was going to happen, but if promising her husband means he would be less worried, then it would not hurt to say so.

"If you feel that someone is following you, just go out with the maid, don't walk alone."

"Yes, sir."

"Especially night time, if..."

His words were stuck halfway when his wife sealed his mouth with her own, he was a little shocked by the unexpected kiss. It was a light one, she pulled away after a second and eyed her husband with a playful glint.

This woman sure knew how to end a conversation.

"You always overthink stuff, honey."

"You always simplify stuff, dear."

"That's why we get married, huh? Kinda balance up each other."

David chuckled as he reached out his hand to soothe the baby's hair. Victoria looked at him with her large blue orbs. She is beautiful, just like her mother.

"But still, I don't feel good about having too much interaction with the Recon Corps."

Audrey looked up and met his eyes once again, she smiled with a sigh.

"Well, I think they are not that bad. Besides, it's not like we're going to meet them that often anymore, we're moving to Trost, aren't we?"

Trost, the southern city of Wall Rose.

David had been working so hard to move his family to the inner-ring city. After they moved in, they would be a hundred miles further away from the titans, their daughter would get a better education, and they would have a better life. Of course, staying away from those Recon Corps was now an added side benefit.

"Yes..."The tall man smiled lightly "We are."

* * *

**A/N**: Hello there! It had been months, For those who were waiting, thank you very much! And big thanks to **sakura-nya **and** Guest **for your reviews, I appreciate them :D

Finally, we got to Levi's POV. I had been writing and rewriting this chapter, not quite satisfied with the previous version. I was not entirely satisfied with this one as well, but find it acceptable. Levi was not the easiest character to write, I had to rethink his reaction on everything and try to make sure he did not go OOC. I even went back to read the manga "no regrets" to review his character.

Any thoughts? Please let me know :) Reviews often give me huge encouragement, and I wanted to know how people think about the story.

Till next time, take care!

~Rifuko~


	4. A short journey on earth

**A short journey on earth**

* * *

"You didn't argue with him?!"

Audrey's cousin, Lora, shouted in disbelief.

It was late afternoon on Friday and the thank-God-its-Friday atmosphere was at its peak, and Audrey was shopping around Shiganshina's busiest street with her cousin. Like always, they made casual conversation, jumping from topic to topic, everything was going fine until they started talking about her weekend plan.

"Well, you know," Audrey replied lightly "he is busy..."

"BUT it is your WEDDING ANNIVERSARY we're talking about!"

"Yes, I know."

The next day was supposed to be Audrey's 2nd wedding anniversary. Since David had gone to Trost and was only going to be back on Sunday, there would be no celebration tomorrow. Audrey almost failed to suppress the laugh when she saw the expression on her cousin's face, Lora was so angry as if David had committed the most sinful crime in the human history.

"But it is a trip with his business partner, he has to be there when they discuss the details and sign the contract, I couldn't just ask him to come back earlier and leave all the important things behind, could I?"

Audrey loved celebration. It didn't matter if it was a birthday party, wedding ceremony, or any other occasions; It didn't matter if it was a celebration that held for her or for others...she just loved the idea of gathering with all those she held close to her heart. But as much as she enjoyed celebrations, Audrey didn't think that missing an anniversary was such a big deal.

"But aren't your wedding anniversary important too?!"

"Well, we can have a makeup celebration."

For her, maintaining a good relationship was more important than having a celebration on time. People always say that every day is Valentine's day if you're with the right person.

"You know what? You're too soft to him." Lora rolled her eyes while crossing her hands. "Men are jerks, if you treat them too kindly, they'll not take you seriously."

Well, Audrey's mother did give her (tons of) lectures regarding husband-wife relationships before she got married, and she did agree that some men could be pretty nasty. But she sees her husband as a good man, and she did not want to be an overbearing wife that fuss over everything. Knowing that she was not going to change her mind, Lora rolled her eyes again and decided to change the topic.

"When are you moving to Trost?"

It was a question that Audrey had been getting a lot lately, though she never minded repeating the answer.

"It depends on when we get the house key."

David had left Shiganshina to Trost for a week, dealing with a business agreement and visiting their potential-new-house-to-be. If nothing went wrong, they would be getting their business contract and house contract signed, settling two matters at the same time.

"How I wish I could move into Wall Rose too." Lora signed. Instead of saying anything, Audrey replied with a smile.

She knew she was blessed, not everyone had the chance to move into the inner wall. You need to have a large amount of money and the right connections. She was well aware of how their life would change, and how it would impact their next generation. She knew that the pros of moving suppressed the cons, but still...

"I will miss Shiganshina..." A nostalgia smile climbed onto her face as her sight moved afar, watching the people walking pass the street. "I'll miss here a lot."

This was the busiest street in Shiganshina, a place she had come probably a thousand times. She knew almost everyone. The butcher, the tailor, the cook, the doctor. She had known most of them since she could remember, it made her a little sad to leave all of them behind to a place whom people she knew a little about.

"Ha! You said as if the wall is going to fall today, like you're never coming back...silly Audy."

Lora laughed and nudged Audrey lightly, calling her by her childhood name. Audrey replied with a gentle smile. Perhaps Lora was right, she shouldn't feel sad, she could always come back to visit anytime she wanted.

An idea suddenly came to her.

"How about we go to the candy shop?"

There was a candy shop near Audrey's house, the owner of the shop was a friend of their grandfather. When they were little, they would sneak into the store and ask for free candies. The old man always stuffed a dozen to them, and their mother would get mad when they got decayed tooth. That was one of their best time. Since she would be leaving soon, paying the old man a visit seemed like a great idea.

"Yup, we should."

Before any of them moved, a huge, deafening explosion cut through the air.

The earth shook violently, both women fell onto the ground as the shopping bags flew all around them. Her heart was pounding fast. What happened? Was it an explosion? An earthquake? She looked around, most people were either sitting on the ground or holding something nearest to them, they were as clueless as her.

Victoria's face suddenly appear in her mind's eye.

"Lora, I am going home..."

Her voice was slightly shaking, when Lora turned to her, she was already leaving, she didn't even bother to pick up the shopping bags. She ran between the narrow streets, passing trough shortcuts, trying to reach home as soon as possible. The buildings around her were tall, blocking her vision to see any further. She could hear people talking to one another, but she did not bother to ask. All she wanted to do was to go home.

Before she made a turn, another huge explosion hit the air. This time, the explosion was more violent, followed by many crashing sounds, Audrey fell onto the ground with her hands covering her head. Her heart was pounding fiercely, her heavy breathing was soon covered by screams and cries from every direction. She ran out to a larger street where smoke concealed most of her vision. When the sight was clear, the first thing that fell into her eyes was a gigantic rock, it was lying on a place that was supposed to be a candy shop a moment ago.

At the edge of the rock laid a bloody wrinkled hand, with an awfully familiar old watch circling its wrist. Audrey froze as her eyes glued on the hand, people were running for their life, some trampled on the bloody flesh, but none bothered.

"Titans! The titans are here! In Shiganshina!"

She snapped her sight away from the hand, unable to put together what had happened.

Titans?

Inside the wall?

Victoria. She had to get her Victoria.

Audrey ran against the flow, bumping into almost everyone running from the opposite direction. She sneaked into the shortcuts once again, cursing silently for not being able to run any faster. The road from the candy shop to her house never once felt so long and endless.

Just one more turn and her house would be in sight. Just once more turn, she would be able to get her baby. Just one more turn...

And there she was, at the edge of the street, where her house located at the other end, seeing a four stories titan with its hand inside her bedroom. Her heart fell to the bottom of her knees, before her brain reacted, her feet started to run.

The titan was retrieving its hand...

She ran.

The titan took out something pink...

Victoria wore pink today.

She ran.

The titan opened its mouth...

She ran.

And the next thing she saw, was blood.

Blood that maintained the life of a living being, that was not supposed to be exposed outwardly, like rose petals, flying freely in the air.

At the moment, the whole world stopped. The screaming and shouting suddenly seemed far away. She sat on the ground, looking at the giant with a pair of soulless eyes. The panic in her chest faded.

It must be a dream, she thought. Back then, Her grandmother would tell her stories about how titans climbed into the wall and caught children who didn't go to bed on time, after hearing those stories she would dream of being chased by giants. It must be one of those dreams. When she woke up, everything would go back to normal. She might be waking up in any minute, when her little princess decided that it was time for an early breakfast, and she would cry her lungs out to wake her mummy. After that, she could pay the old man at the candy shop a visit, perhaps he would give her some free candies, just like the old days...

Just like the old days.

A loud footstep landed in front of her, trembling the ground. She lifted her head and met the large browned eyes up there. She could not pinpoint exactly was kind of facial expression the giant was showing, it was like a sad smile but not quite a smile. She could feel the high temperature of the huge being standing in front of her, even though she had not touched it. It was hot, it almost scalded her, she could feel the pain.

Pain, she could feel the pain...

It was not a dream.

All of a sudden, the numbness that separated her from the reality vanished, it was replaced by an overwhelming fear. She knew she should run, but her feet did not seem to be in the mood of cooperating. She was shaking, her feet felt like jelly.

This would be the end, she thought.

One second she was sitting on the floor, the next thing she knew, she was flying in the air. The scenery in front of her was blurry, all she could feel was the fierce wind and the hand wrapping her waist. When everything stopped, she found herself sitting on top of the roof. She turned to her left and found the titan standing in front of her moments ago were now lying on the ground, hot air bursting out from its body.

She was...alive?

"Are you hurt?"

When she looked up to her other side, a pair of wings came into sight. It was the wings of freedom, it was the Recon Corp. The person who saved her was a woman, there was another man standing on top of the opposite building, he must be the one who killed the titan. She recognized none of them. Breathing heavily, she shook her head.

"Good." She heard the woman said.

She was alive. She had been an inch away from death, but she was alive. She lived...

But her daughter did not.

Her heart felt as if it was being stabbed by something, the pain was incomparable. She once thought that giving birth was the most painful thing on earth, but she was wrong. Dead wrong.

It didn't feel real to her, everything happened too fast, it was more like another dream. How could her daughter die like that? There were still a lot of things that she wanted to show her, to do with her. She wanted to bring her to the river her parent brought her when she was young, she wanted to teach her to speak and write, she wanted to walk on the street with her in those mother-daughter dresses.

And she was gone.

Forever gone.

"...hey! Did you hear me?!"

Audrey looked backed to the woman who had saved her, she must have lost in her thoughts while she was speaking.

"Can you ride a horse?"

Audrey nodded, staring at the evaporating titan on the ground with empty eyes.

"There are horses in the stable, ride to the inner gate...we'd checked, there should be no titans on the way."

If she was able to reach the inner gate of Shiganshina, she would catch up the ship heading to Trost. The woman brought her down onto the ground, she pulled Audrey back when she saw her walking to the titan.

"Mam, stop! It is too hot for human to get near it."

Audrey wasn't paying attention to her, she wanted to get back her girl, even if it was a corpse. The woman pulled Audrey back to face her, and the next thing Audrey knew was a hot, stinging sensation on her face. She fell on the ground, eyes widen as she looked up to the woman. She had slapped her. Audrey could not see her face as the sun backlit her, but she could feel her fury.

"What had gone had already gone. Now stand up! Ride the horse! Go and gather with those who are still alive!"

Those who are still alive, she mused...The faces of many people suddenly came to the surface of her mind. Her parents, her relatives, her friends...

And her husband.

No, she couldn't let anything happened to herself, she didn't want anyone to grief over her death, not now, not on top of the death of Victoria. And she was her parents only child, who would take care of them if she was gone?

She had to leave, and live.

Seeing the changes in her eyes, the soldier pulled her up and walked her to the stable. She made sure Audrey got onto the horse before leaving with the other man.

And that was the last time Audrey saw them.

Paying the evaporating titan a last glance, she turned and leaved.

* * *

**A/N**: Hello guys, I am back! A special thanks for those who had reviewed! I know the first three chapters were a little confusing, I believed that this chapter answered some of the questions? This was a Levi-less chapter but I hoped you guys enjoyed.

Till next time, see yeah!


	5. Que Sera Sera

"Who is her father?"

After moving a few foot ahead, Audrey stopped her horse and turned her head back to the woman. The woman was smiling, a smile mixed with relief and sadness.

"Levi."

That was the last word she spoke.

* * *

**Que Sera Sera**

* * *

Trost district had not been as chaotic as the one Audrey was seeing at the moment.

It was not like she had been here many times, in fact, she only visited once. But instead of the clean, well-organized city she remembered, what laid in front of her was completely opposite. The city was overloaded, the sound of crying, cursing and shouting filled the air. Rubbish was all around, and there were even kids pooing at the middle of the street!

When she reached the ship hours ago back in Wall Maria, it was full. her only option was to go by horse. After a long, tiring ride from Shiganshina, with the little baby she coincidentally saved tied behind her back, Audrey reached Trost district the next morning. Even though she was physically worn out, Audrey was wide awake, it was as if she had swallowed a whole packet of coffee bean.

When Audrey entered Trost, her strained muscle immediately loosens, if it wasn't her awareness of a fragile being tying behind her, she might have fallen down from the horse right away.

The first thing she did after her feet touched the ground was to check if the baby was okay. Despite the fact that they had been on the horse for many hours, the baby slept through most of the journey, only crying to alert her when she was hungry. The baby amazed her in some way, because her own daughter would cry if she was disturbed by the slightest noise. Throughout the journey, Audrey had stopped a few times to breastfeed Victoria, also to give both human and horse some rest.

When Audrey held the baby in her arms, the little girl frowned and tears started gathering in her deep blue eyes, a few seconds later, she burst out crying. It had been two hours since her last feeding, now was just about time for the next one.

A woman in military suit instructed her to register at the booth beside the street. She let out a heavy breath when she saw how long the queue was. Luckily, with a crying baby, she was permitted to cut in and finished everything within a minute. She got her bread and water and was instructed to a hall that reserved for female refugees. Her entire body soothed the moment she sat on the ground, she felt like she had not been resting since forever. Audrey hurriedly finished her bread (which was probably made of rock) and fed the baby.

Audrey watched as the baby quietly consume. In her long ride from Shiganshina, she had been constantly forcing herself to not think about the death of her daughter. She even tried to convince herself that the warmth behind her back was her little girl, just to make the ride more bearable. The baby girl did occupy her attention, but Audrey couldn't really pretend she was her's. She was smaller in size and lighter in weight, perhaps just reached her first month; she had dark hair in contrast to her daughter's light brown.

No, she wasn't hers.

But her eyes...they were the same shades of blue.

A drop of salty liquid fell on the baby's face, Audrey wiped away the water but only to find more and more falling down like rain. She looked away and remained in the same position for the rest of the feeding.

After the baby was fed, Audrey forced her tired body up and walked out to the street. By now she had not met anyone she knew yet, she heard that most Shiganshina's citizens came by ships, and people coming by ships were brought to another part of the town. Her parents weren't in Shiganshina, they went to a village inside Wall Maria to visit their relatives. If they had heard the news and escaped, they should be arriving at the same place. David was still in Trost, he should be looking for her at the moment. The thought of her husband ached her heart. How was she going to tell him about Victoria?

Her trains of thoughts were stopped by the sound of an explosion. Her heart froze as she looked up to the wall, although she did not see it herself, she heard that the titan which had destroyed Shiganshina's entrance was taller than the wall. To her relief, there was nothing. She later found out that it was the army standing on the wall shooting bombs to the other direction.

"CLOSE THE GATE!"

Someone standing on the wall shouted urgently.

"But there're still people out there!"

The door started to close as people continue passing into the gate. Victoria was crying violently in her arms because of the booms, Audrey tied the baby behind her back in case they needed to run. As the gate dropped lower and lower, her heart tightens and she prayed that everyone out there could make it before it closed completely. It was until the gate reached the last three meters that a group of cops stormed in on their horseback, with the last one skiing in.

"Hanji! are you alright?!"

The last woman who made into Trost lied on the ground as her comrade checked on her with a worried face. She rose one of her hand to indicate that she was alright. Her comrade helped her to sit up and checked on her injuries, another member of the Recon Corp shouted to a tall blond man standing near them.

"Erwin Buntaicho! Levi is still out there!"

Erwin looked at the gate which had just been closed seconds ago, his face betraying no sign of worry.

"Don't worry, he'll make it."

"What do you mea..."

Before the young soldier could finish his question, someone landed right beside him, followed by a gust of wind that messed up his hair.

"LEVI!"

"Medic!"

The short man with raven hair pushed away from the young soldier who was trying to hug him. Since Levi had saved him on their last survey outside the wall, the guy name Bob would always hug him for stupid reasons.

"Are you injured, Levi?!"

The shorter guy didn't reply, he didn't even look at Bob, his eyes were fixed on something up there. Bob followed his sight and saw a wooden board moving down from the top of the wall. When the board was brought low enough, a middle-aged woman lying on it came into sight, she seemed to have lost both of her legs.

"Where is the medic?!"

A young girl in the military suit ran past the crowd towards them. She knelt beside the woman and started to stanch the bleeding. The elder woman opened and closed her eyes several times, her face twisted in pain. Levi looked at the injured woman with an unnoticeable frown.

He found her somewhere near the gate, with her legs inside the mouth of a 8 meters titan, and another man standing not far away from her. The man took out a pistol and tried to stab the giant, but ended up being eaten himself, as the giant released the woman and consumed him completely. It was too late when Levi reached them to kill the monster. His horse ran away when a bomb landed beside them. The other giants were closing up and he knew it was best to leave the woman there, chances of them escaping together were too low. Especially when he had no horse, and she had no legs.

But he saved her.

The man had sacrificed himself for her, he couldn't let him died in vain.

He was tired of seeing people dying in vain.

"Levi!"

Someone called him from behind, he turned and found a young woman walking to his direction, it took him a few seconds to figure out that the woman was Audrey. In the past few times he saw her, she was always well kept, with her hair tied up in a neat bun and her clothes cleanly washed and carefully ironed. He had never seen her in such a dirty and messy condition.

"I'm glad you're alright, I..."

Her expression suddenly froze as her sight fell onto the person beside him.

"Mama!"

She ran and knelt beside the woman lying on the board, mouth widens as she eyed the missing legs. After a moment, Audrey reached out her trembling hand and touched her face, she was as pale as paper. The woman opened her eyes and met her daughter's watery orbs, even in her condition, she managed a smile and wiped away Audrey's tears.

"Audrey..."

Audrey held her hand gently, wishing her own would stop trembling.

"You are a mother now... still acting like a cry baby?"

She could only answer with more tears. Audrey looked up to the medic once she finished her job, her heart dropped when she noticed the deep frown on her face.

"How's my mother?"

The medic shook her head as a reply, Audrey opened her mouth but couldn't speak without trembling.

"No...you...you have to do something..."

"Audrey..."

"Please...you have to try...you can't just shake your head and..."

"Audrey!..."

She could only manage such little voice, but her tone was enough to catch her daughter's attention. Audrey's eyes went back to her mother, the elder woman squeezed her hand lightly.

"It's okay, honey...I guess it is just my time to rest."

Audrey's vision blurred and she shut her eyes to get rid of the tears. She had just lost her daughter less than a day ago, and now she could only watch helplessly as the sign of life slowly leaving her mother.

"You'll be ok...I'm sure about that." Her mother tugged a strain of hair behind Audrey's ear. "You are always a strong girl."

Her mother had overestimated her, she thought bitterly, but she chose to remain silent. The last thing she could do for her mother was to make her less worried about her. Audrey hoped she could at least rest in peace.

"Where's Victoria?"

She stared at her mother silently, the elder woman could smell something was off.

"Is she ok?"

"Yes...yes...don't worry...she is just sick."

Levi, who was watching quietly beside them, could tell that she was lying. Or at least, hiding something.

"Can I see her?"

"Yes, of course..."

She took the baby from her back and placed it gently beside her mother. The baby had stopped crying. If her mother was not in the state of dying, she would be able to find out that the baby was not her granddaughter. But she seemed convinced, Audrey mentally released a breath.

Her mother placed her hand on Victoria's tummy and patted gently, smoothing the dirty cloth. After a moment, she started to sing.

"When I was just a little girl..."

With a bitter smile, Audrey continued the song.

"I asked my mother, what will I be..."

"Will I be teddy... will I be fish..."

Audrey smiled weakly at the silly lyrics she'd changed when she was a child. Back then when her mother sang to her, she couldn't quite catch the lyrics, so she stuck to the words she was most familiar to. As they sang, all the old memories came back to her.

"Here's what she said to me..."

She remembered the quiet afternoon when she was lying in bed, sick and angry, because she couldn't go to her cousin's birthday party, and her mother sang the song to her. At that time, she was the one lying, with her mother sitting beside her; But now, she was the one sitting, with her mother dying beside her.

"Que...sera...sera...whatever...will be...will...be..."

Her mother's voice became lighter and lighter, like dandelions flying in the air, but her smile remained.

"The future's not ours to see..."

It was then she realized how ironic the song actually was. The many times back then when they sang, they couldn't have imagined such a future, could they?

"Que...se...ra..."

The patting stopped, her eyes slowly closed.

She was gone.

"...sera."

Audrey finished the last word as she placed a kiss on her mother's forehead.

* * *

**A/N: **

Hello guys!

Writing this chapter was such a pain, I was stuck at the first few paragraph for months. And there were a lot of things that went totally different from my original plan... I didn't plan to have Levi in this chapter, but at the end, I kinda like how it went.

I wanted to make them sing a Children's song for the ending. At first, I thought of using Rock A Bye Baby, but as sweet as the melody is, the lyrics creeps.

Since I was constantly jumping through the timeline, please let me know if you guys still find it confusing.

Review are highly appreciated.

Until next time, take care!


	6. Death of the little girl

_Summary of the previous chapter:_

_After the fall of Wall Maria, Audrey arrived at Trost with the baby she saved. Levi rescued Audrey's mother from a titan, but she _was_ dead __eventually__._

* * *

**Death of the little girl **

* * *

"Oi."

It took Audrey a while before she realized that Levi had been calling her. She was looking at the direction where her mother's body was taken away, they told her that all the corpses would be cremated due to the lack of land. Audrey wanted to stay by her mother's side until the cremation but was stopped by the soldiers, all the refugees were not allowed to leave the area. Unless you're dead.

She turned her head to the man beside her, his uniform was bloodied, she couldn't tell if he got it from the titans, himself or her mother. Her large blue orbs met his greyish-blue eyes, Levi had never seen those eyes in such a dull and empty shade.

"Your father, he was dead," Levi spoke in a monotone. "He was trying to save her."

Despite people talking and walking around them, everything seemed too quiet. Audrey never moved a muscle, never broke the eye contact, but somehow, she was gone. Her sight passed through the man in front of her, going somewhere far and unreachable.

Levi was the first who looked away, he walked past her without another word. He had done his part, now at least the old man's daughter would know that he had died for a reason, the old man would be remembered, as a hero. Just like how Levi remembered those who died before him.

* * *

Audrey wasn't sure how long she had been standing at the same spot, if it wasn't of Victoria's crying, she might continue to stand there until the end of time. Audrey patted the baby gently to ease her crying. Levi was gone, after bringing her the news that her father... Audrey made a deep inhale and cut herself from the thought. She wasn't crying, her body was too dehydrated to cry.

She had lost her parents.

Since becoming a mother, she had grown so much. Before giving birth, she never knew that sleeping less than 3 hours a day was possible; she never felt such strong connection to another human being; she never knew that there was a strong, brave and protective being lying inside her for years, waiting patiently, only to wake up when her baby was born. She could do so many things that she couldn't even imagine back then. She became stronger.

But no matter how much she had grown, there would always be a little girl inside her that refused to grow up. The little girl who wanted mama's hug and papa's smile; the little girl who was the apple of their eyes; The little girl who was loved and protected.

And today, along with her father and mother, the little girl was dead.

"Mrs. Cooper!"

Audrey turned her head to the direction where a few middle-aged men were standing. It took her numbed mind a few seconds to recognize that they were those who went business trip with her husband. The one who called her was his best friend Peter, he waived to Audrey but she shifted her sight from him to the others around him.

Her husband was nowhere in sight.

* * *

**A/N**: Posting two chapters in one shot. The detailed A/N will be in next chapter.


	7. The decision

**The decision**

* * *

Hanji Zoe sat alone on the staircase outside of certain resident's house. Anyone who paid attention to her might think that she was a corpse which had suffered a horrifying death. But she was alive, just that she hadn't been sleeping more than 8 hours for the past three days due to the survey trip and the fall of Wall Maria. She was extremely tired but couldn't sleep. Her mind was jammed by billions of questions.

There is a titan which is taller than the wall itself, where does it come from? If it has always been there, why does it destroy the wall now, but not earlier? Will titan evolve, will they grow? Will that titan destroy Wall Rose too? And Wall Sina? When?

While her mind wandered a thousand miles away, someone stumbled on her feet and almost hit the ground. She stood up reflectively to grab the person, but her broken leg ached and she couldn't stand straight, resulting in the two of them falling on the ground at the same time. A cracking sound came from her already injured leg. She grimaced silently, the medic had warned her to avoid walking for the next two weeks, but she was sure that two weeks would not be enough for now.

Hanji sat up and laid her back on the wall painfully, she would have to wait until Moblit came back with her food and water to ask him to get the medic. She looked at the clumsy person sitting in front of her and figured out that the woman was someone she knew.

"Audrey?"

Audrey did not go checking on her instantly. She gave her a brief apology without even looking at her and straight went to untying the bundle behind her back, it was lucky that she fell on her front, which did not hurt the baby that had been resting behind her back. Hanji was amazed that the baby did not cry even if her mother fell on the ground. After making sure that the child was not injured, Audrey tied the baby back and was finally able to spare her attention to Hanji.

"I am really sorr...Ms. Zoe?" Her surprised expression turned into worried when her eyes laid on Hanji's feet "Oh God, you are hurt!"

Audrey quickly sat beside her and checked on her leg.

"Oh, Ms. Zoe, I am so sorry..."

"It's okay, we soldiers get new cuts on a daily basis, wounds are our friends."

Hanji waved her hand and squeezed a smile to Audrey, trying (and perhaps failing) to show cheerfulness that she didn't quite feel inside. Hanji stopped her as she offered to look for the medic, saying that she would ask Moblit to do the running. Feeling bad for further injuring her and being unhelpful at the same time, Audrey offered to sit with her until Moblit was back. In the presence of silence, Hanji wondered would Audrey be interested in listening to her theories about the titan.

"Ms. Zoe..."

"Hanji...just call me Hanji."

"Hanji, how are your friends and families?"

Before Hanji figured out where to start her theory, Audrey burped out one of the most unwanted questions that Hanji had been avoiding since the fall of the wall. No, she did not want to talk about the people she had lost. She had been encountering constant lost since entering the recon corp, but it didn't mean that she was used to it (and she hoped she would never get used to it). She had been busying herself with other topics, e.g. her hypothesis regarding the 60 meters mysterious disaster. A topic like this kept her brain functioning, or else she would have collapsed long ago. Making a long exhale, Hanji adjusted her injured leg to a more comfortable position as she spoke.

"Some survived, but some couldn't make it."

Audrey stared at her quietly for a few seconds before pulling her blue orbs away.

"Everyone I know was gone. Mother, father, Lora...my husband..." Huge drops of tears slid down her rosy cheeks "My husband...he was supposed to stay in Trost...it was our wedding anniversary, he wanted to surprise me...he shouldn't have."

Audrey's eyes were focusing on nothing in particular, speaking at a volume no louder than a whisper. Hanji looked at her, temporarily putting the thought of discussing her hypothesis at the back of her mind. Audrey seemed to need a listener as badly as her.

"I should be happy...happy that I am alive, right?" Audrey covered her face with her shaking hands as she spoke. "But being the last to stay alive... ...I never knew that staying alive can be such a horrifying thing."

As those familiar words hit Hanji, a sudden feeling of ache occurred in her numbed heart. This was exactly what she thought during all her sleepless night after every outing. People always said that surviving an outing was lucky, but she wasn't sure if seeing people died in front of you one by one was really a blessing. Hanji didn't want to die, she was sure about that, but that didn't make being the last to survive more appealing.

"How am I going to live without everyone?" As Audrey looked up to the sky, tears fell from the edge of her eyes. "I...don't know where to go from here, Hanji."

Hanji lowered her head, the reflection of her glasses shielded her emotions away from others. Silence stretched over the place once again, occasionally broken by the passerby. Hanji was debating whether to shut up or to speak out, it took a century before she finally spoke again.

"Half of the recon corp died during the outing a few days ago, the other half of the remaining died during the evacuation of Wall Maria."

Ah, her brain started to jam again, she should probably stop the conversation. They would be having a meeting later that evening, her mind needed to be in a functionable condition. However, the rest of the sentence came out without her consent, her eyes remain glued on the ground as she spoke.

"Moblit and I were the only survivors in my batch, every corp member who graduated that year died. "

Hanji suddenly felt like she was out of oxygen, she took a few deep breaths to soothe her lungs. She hoped she was not going to die of breathless at the age of 24.

Or perhaps that wasn't a bad thing after all?

Ha! she was out of her mind again.

Hanji looked up to Audrey and found that the other woman was facing her completely, paying attention to every word she said. Her eyes filled with sorrow, curiosity, and understanding, an understanding that Hanji hoped no usual citizen would ever wear in their eyes. Hanji gave out an exhale as she leaned on the wall behind her, staring up into the light blue sky.

"Alive or death, I am not sure which one is more disastrous. But since you are alive, you have to move on."

To move on while you are alive is the only way to honor those who had died before you. This is what Hanji's squad leader told her on the first time she came back from scouting trip. This belief had rooted in her heart for years and gave her strength to move on when everything fell apart.

"Everyone is more or less clueless about what they should do to their life, it didn't matter if the wall falls or not, so you're not really alone on that."

As if agreeing with her, the baby sleeping behind Audrey made a sound. Audrey untied Victoria and held the baby in her arms, the young girl was awakened and was now looking around with her large curious eyes. Audrey gently smiled at the baby and told her that the one she was looking at was Hanji. Audrey then starting to talk about other random stuff and asked the baby if she was hungry. Audrey looked so in peace when she was talking to the little girl, although still tired, the worries and sorrows were nowhere in sign.

"You still have your daughter. That's another big reason for you to move on."

For some reason, her smile suddenly vanished, the hand which was smoothing the baby's hair froze on the spot. Hanji frowned slightly at her sudden change and tried to figure out which part of her previous sentence might have offended the young mother. After a long silence, Audrey resumed smoothing the baby's hair, but her eyes told Hanji that there was something going on in her mind.

"My daughter..."

Audrey's looked away from the baby, eyes moving from side to side. It seemed like she was coming up with something, something Hanji couldn't quite understand. But Hanji had seen those eyes before, it was what people showed when they were trying to come up with a strategy.

Or a lie.

"You are right, Hanji."

Her moving eyes suddenly stopped and they landed on the baby in her hands. She looked like she had made a decision, a decision which content unknown to Hanji.

"I have my daughter."

Audrey looked up to the sky, deep blue eyes showed some sort of determination.

For some reason, Hanji didn't like the look on her face.

* * *

**A/N:**

Happy belated New Year! I hope that everyone has been doing well!

Writing Hanji is HARD, even harder than Levi if you ask me. Her unique personality and swing of moods are really hard to capture.

I wonder if anyone thinks that Levi got too little screen time in my story so far? I promise that he will be more active from the next chapter onwards. I tried to begin the story by building the OC and establishing her background. She and Levi had nothing in common in the beginning, but as the story goes on their interaction will sure increase.

Originally, I wanted to write 3-4 chapters during my winter break, but it seemed that I could only come out with 2 chapters (or 1.5, seeing how short the previous one was). School will be starting in a few days, so there will be no updates in the near future. I hope I can be more productive in 2017.

Until next time, take care!


End file.
